Page 15 of Decidedly Off Limits

But instead of unleashing her temper, she smiled at Holly. “Okay, I’m ready for chocolate cake. And lots of it.” She mumbled the last part, along with what sounded suspiciously like, “Since I’m not getting laid tonight.”

That smile on my face? That was me inwardly high-fiving myself.

7

Kelsey

Late Monday morning, I sat outside in the hospital courtyard, enjoying a quick break before my next patient. The sun was warm on my face, the breeze a slight kiss.

Pathetic as it was, this was the most action in the kissing department I’d seen in a while. Lucky me.

“Is someone sitting here?”

I glanced up from my E-reader. Next to one of the white plastic chairs at the table, holding two cups of coffee, stood a tall, good-looking man in a suit.

“No, you can have it,” I said, figuring he needed it for the next table over, where a family now sat.

“Thanks.” He put the coffees on the table, one in front of me. “I bought you this. Linda said it’s your favorite. Hope that’s okay?” Linda was a barista in the hospital cafe. Her four-year-old daughter had been a patient of mine for a short time last year, and Linda and I were on friendly terms because of it.

Which meant she didn’t think he was a serial killer if she’d told him what I liked to drink.

I inhaled the subtle sweet scent wafting from my skinny vanilla dolce latte.Mmm. “Thanks, but really, you didn’t need to do that.”

“Sure I did.” He pulled back an empty chair, scraping the plastic against the cobblestones, and sat down. “I figured we could count this as our first date.” The smile on his face was that of a man confident in who he was, and confident no woman would ever reject him.

Pretty much like Trent.

“And let me guess,” I said, “you’re expecting a kiss at the end of this so-called date?”

He laughed, but it wasn’t the same sexy laugh that came from Trent so easily. The same sexy laugh that always turned my panties damp.

It was more like a giggle.

Oh, boy.Strike one.

“I certainly wouldn’t protest,” he said, “but I can wait for our second date if you’d prefer.”

I tilted my head slightly to the side, in potential flirt mode.

Not that I was skilled at flirting.

“And you’re expecting a second date?”

“More like hoping for one.”

A quick glance at his ring finger told me he wasn’t married. He didn’t have a wedding ring on, nor was there a tan line. “Are you visiting a patient?”

“No. I work here, in finance.”

Ah, so the guy responsible for my paycheck.

I slipped my E-reader into my purse on the chair next to me and sipped my drink. “How come I haven’t seen you before?”

“I only started a few weeks ago, and every time I saw you, you were busy reading. So this time I came bearing a gift.”

I laughed and lifted my cup. “Ahh, a bribe so I’ll talk to you?”

He giggled again. “Pretty much. So what were you reading?”